Bottle-stopper.



T. J. SNYDER.

BOTTLE STOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED ms; 14. ms.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

five/ 72271" Theodore c1 Jnyder TED STARS PATENT FFTU THEODORE J. SNYDER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR or ONE-FOURTH 'ro GEORGE s.

z JACOBS AND ONE-FOURTH TO MEYER l-I. EICHENGREEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLIN'GIS. I

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2c, 1918.

Continuation of application Serial No. 97,811, filed May 16, 1916. Renewed August 28, 1917, Serial No.

188,695. This application filed February 14, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE J. SNYDER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of -aI1linois, have invented a certain new and useful Bottle-Stopper, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to flexible hollow bottle stoppers andv especially those of tho liquid-dispensing type. Its main object is to provide a more compact and less costly article of this class, which will serve equally well as a dispenser and moreeifectively as a stopper than those heretofore proposed.

Of the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the upper part of a bottle containing a dispensing stopper hich embodies my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the bottle and stopper, showing the manner of filling the latter.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are vertical sections showing three modified embodiments.

This application is a substitute for and continuation of my prior application Serial No. 97,811, filed May 16, 1916, and renewed under Serial No. 188,695 August 28, 1917.

In the drawings, 10 represents an ordinary glass bottle and 11 is the dispensing stopper preferably made of soft vulcanized rubber compound, in one piece, and having a conical or tapered body 12 which constitutes the liquid reservoir as well as the bottle seal or cork. The side walls of the reservoir are made, relatively, of sufficient thinness to pro vide a liquid-holding chamber 13 of substantial capacity, but with enough stiffness and body properly to perform the sealing function. 14 is a domed top wall or web immediately surmounting and connected with the conical sides, and 15 is a contracted nose at the lower end, containing a relatively short and narrow filling and dropping orifice 16. A single stopper of this construction may be made to fit bottle-mouths of slightly varying sizes, after the manner of an ordinary cork, and it forms an effective seal regardless of whether or not its dispensing function is utilized. Preferably, the stopper extends so far into the bottle neck that only enough of its body is left projecting above the mouth of the bottle to allow the end-wall 1 1 to be compressed in charging and to en- Serial No. 217,047.

eral advantages over that type. By locating the reservoir in the conical stopper body a separate bulb is avoided; the height of the stopper is reduced; its costof manufacture is less, both on account of the smaller amount of material required and the simpler molding and other manufacturing operations, including the formation of the short orifice 16; said orifice is less likely to become clogged; and the article is more effective as a stopper because of its greater compressibility and its lessened liability to become loosened by side pressure against its outer end.

To charge the stopper, the bottle containing it and the liquid to be dispensed is inverted, and compression is exerted by the operators finger in an axial direction on the flexible end wall as indicated in Fig. 2. This drives out-a part of the air contained in the reservoir chamber 13, and when the stopper is allowed to resume its natural shape by relieving the pressure thereon while it is still in an inverted position, a quantity of the liquid will be drawn into the reservoir.

The bottle is then turned upright and the stopper withdrawn, and the liquid may thereupon be dispensed in drops by squeezing the sides of the stopper slowly together or compressing its end wall 14:. The sides of the exposed end-portion can also be squeezed in preparation for filling the stopper, although this is generally less convenient than endwise compression of the web 1 1.

Fig. 3 shows a modified form with a slightly bulbous upper end 14? to secure increased flexibility, the characteristics otherwise being the same as already described.

In Fig. 1, the body 12 of the stopper is formed of rubber of a medium degree of softness, and its upper end is closed by an upwardly-bulged web 14 of comparatively soft rubber, the marginal ortion of which, indicated by the numeral 1 is embedded between the upper edge of the wall of the body 12 and a harder vulcanized rim portion which is indicated by the numeral 18.

In that form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the body of the device is formed at its upper end with a relatively hard rim portion 19, corresponding substantially to the rim portion 18 in Fig. l, formed with a reduced eXteriorly threaded portion 20 on which is fitted a cap 21 having a web portion 14 which is sufiiciently soft and elastic to serve the same purpose as the portions 14, M and 14: heretofore described. In this form of the invention, the cap may be readily removed and the interior of the stopper thoroughly cleaned.

I claim:

1. A hollow bottle stopper having conical side alls of soft rubber, and end walls, providing an inner chamber of relatively large capacity, said side walls being relatively thin as compared to the diameter of the stopper.

2. A liquid-dispensing bottle-stopper comprising a reservoir having externally-conical, flexible side walls adapted to fit within the bottle neck, a flexible upper end wall, and a relatively-narrow lower filling and dropping orifice, said sidewalls being relatively thin as compared to the diameter of the stopper.

3. A liquid-dispensing bottle-stopper comprising a flexible, hollow, conical reservoir body adapted to fi t within the bottle neck and immediately surmounted by an integral, flexible end-wall, said body having a. tapered lower end containing a relatively short and narrow filling and dropping orifice.

l. A liquid-dispensing, one-piece, soft-rubber bottle stopper in the form of a conical, thin-walled reservoir adapted to fit within the bottle-neck, said reservoir terminating at its upper end ina compressible end Wall and at its lower end in a tapered nose containing a relatively short and narrow orifice.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8 day of February, 1918.

THEODORE J. SNYDER.

topless oi this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

